SOML | MAY the 4th BE WITH YOU!

 Since Traci and I are both May babies we decided years ago that it's twice as fun to celebrate our birthdays together. Last year our birthday party landed on May fourth, so of course we had to celebrate Star Wars day (which meant we made our cousin dress up in Traci's dad Obi-Wan Kenobi costume complete with the light-up, sound-making lightsaber)! This year we made sure to plan our party on May fourth just for kicks.

To be honest, Traci and I haven't actually seen any of the Star Wars movies. We don't even know half of the character's names. But we tried...
I made funfetti mini cakes with cream cheese frosting and Star Wars cake toppers. And Traci memorized some quotes to recite. My favorite was: “Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope.”

 We had a brunch full of our favorites:

• Belgium waffles with syrup, fresh strawberries, and cool whip
• Ham and sausage egg "mcmuffins"
• Tater tot omelet breakfast bites from this pin
• Spinach, Chinese sausage, & cheddar quiche
• Bacon! (duh)
• Tater tots
• Rainbow jello
• Fruit salad
• Corn on the cob

This year we went all out and did our hair like Princess Leia. And we couldn't forget our crowns - we have princess syndrome. I hope next year, you'll celebrate May the 4th with us. 

and...MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!

xoxo, allison

SOML| surprise GERMANY package

My bff has been in Germany the past three months. And she's really good at keeping secrets. Like the fact that she bought us BFF phone cases (you know the ones) before proceeding to convince me that I needed an iPhone 5s in my life. Our convo went something like this..

Me: I'm going to get a new phone today
Her: WHICH ONE!
Me: I think the 5s because you convinced me and i want to be just like you
Her: YES! and we can be just like each other.
Me: yesss and we can get those bff cases LOLZ...jk
Her: but really..
Me: hahaha and then we can iMessage again finally
Her: it'll be the best life ever. wanna know a secret?
Me: yes
Her: I already bought the cases..... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
Me: WHAT? HAHAHHAHAA FORREALSS????
Her: I WAS EXCITED AND OPTIMISTIC
Me: YES OMG. YOU KNEW BEFORE I KNEW
Her: I did.
Me: THATS HOW WELL YOU KNOW ME OMG IM SO EXCITED. BEST. IDEA. EVER

The other secret she kept was sending me this package on April 8, almost a full month before my birthday to make sure it got to me on time (also to celebrate my baptism). We've spent more birthdays apart than together, but getting to send & receive care packages is definitely a plus! (Remember when I sent her this ice cream party in a box?)

i love Haribo!

Milka chocolate = always a good thing. (Kinder Happy Hippos not pictured because I ate them all.)

Scrap fabric from the pants she cut into shorts. Some say trash, I say treasure.

Arm knit double circle scarf! She says it's to prepare for the winter weather (that we are definitely not having right now).

Basically sparkling apple juice in a bottle. We love apple juice. (When I was younger I used to drink apple juice like water...until I realized that I was basically drinking sugar water.)

Books! The first one is Eleanor & Park that I started reading the night before she left.

to add to my collection of one haha

I hope you're inspired to send a care package to someone you're missing right now. With flat rate boxes, it's fun to try to fit as many heavy presents as you can inside. 

xoxo, allison

SOML | 25 things to do before you turn 25

 Today I turn 25! Halfway to fifty! To be honest, I dreaded this day (I might have had a nervous breakdown yesterday in anticipation, you can ask Joyce). I had the perfect picture of what I thought my life would look like by now, and it's no where close to that.  But I've come to realize it's so much better. God has blessed me with so much and taught me many lessons (sometimes more than once) over these past 25 years on earth. I decided two days ago that I wanted to complete a list of "25 things to do before you turn 25" but since I had a day to complete them all, I decided instead to make a list of 25 things I've done, that I think you should do before you turn 25. Some are serious, some are silly...take a look!

1. Find a home church 
   it took me a while, but I finally found somewhere I feel I really belong
2. Finish graduate school
   Pharm.D., check! RPh license, check!
3. Take a road trip with your friends
   Salvation mountain on the hottest weekend of the summer, I can't believe I convinced my besties to come
4. Bike to the beach
   doublecheck! 21 miles round trip (you know what we're doing when you get back, Natalie)
5. Start a blog about your life and update it regularly
   thanks for reading :)
6. Laugh until you cry
   probably the best ab workout ever. It's important to have friends who make you laugh! also, friends who laugh at your jokes. (side notes: one time Traci was forced upstairs because she was laughing too loud in the study room; another time, Natalie and I had to go in separate rooms because we were laughing so hard we couldn't breathe; Joyce snorts, it makes me laugh harder)
7. Learn to swim
   thank you mom for making me complete all the levels of swim class from starfish & minnows to dolphin. thanks Traci for making me take the dolphin level twice. (we probably should have stayed for sharks.)
8. Apologize to someone you were mean to in high school
   you know who you are.
9. Travel to another country
   World Congress in Thailand!
10. Build a house
    Habitat for Humanity is one of the best things I've ever done. nailing roofing, climbing on ladders, using power saws and nail guns. i love it all.
11. Confront a fear
    I have extreme motion sickness so I never thought I'd be able to go on a cruise. but thanks to meclizine I went to the southern Caribbean with Traci last summer!
12. Meet your best friend
    self-explanatory
13. Sleep in a tent
    church retreats, warm summer nights in the backyard
14. Donate your hair to cancer patients
    Nallie has chopped off my hair twice already, and I'm awaiting her return to do it again in anticipation for #summatime. The first time I donated to Locks of Love, the second time to Pantene Beautiful Lengths.
15. Send a care package to someone you love
    the benefits of going to school 360 miles away from your friends and spending multiple birthdays apart
16. Tell your parents you love them
    tell your grandparents, tell your siblings, tell your best friends
17. Do absolutely nothing for a whole day
    sometimes you need a break for everything and everyone.
18. Go to the happiest place on earth
    it's probably hard to tell from our blog, but anyone who knows us knows we LOVE disneyland.
19. Ride an elephant
    so. much. fun.
20. Attend a taping to your favorite TV show
    the Voice! thanks Joyce.
21. Make a time capsule and bury it in your backyard
    this might be one of my best ideas ever. two years ago on my birthday we wrote letters to our future selves, included some mementos, stuffed them into a giant mason jar, and buried it in my backyard. maybe 8 years from now we will dig it up and see!
22. Suck it up, and buy an iPhone
    i did this yesterday. Natalie is very convincing. Matty is very convincing. I love emojis and iMessage and Facetime. I'm also easily convinced (which is how I ended up with my LG Lucid, which, according to the iPhone sales guy, was never a good phone even when I bought it two years ago.)
23. Make a friend in another country
    I met a girl who was studying abroad in the US on the plane home from Thailand. she went back but we keep in touch via Instagram and Twitter.
24. Stop gossiping
    i'm working really hard on this one.
25. Get baptized

xoxo, allison

p.s. the first picture was from Traci and my birthday party last year. we have princess syndrome.

SOML | BAPTISM! part TWO

Last week I got baptized with Traci and it was a happy, happy day. Sharing parts of our testimonies and hearing others share was such a humbling experience. It's amazing to see how God has worked in other peoples lives. Since moving back home after grad school, I've really wanted to find a home church similar to the church that made me fall back in love with Jesus when I was in Stockton. I'm so glad that I did. 

I remember little of the actual baptism. I can't recall exactly what the pastors said or where my parents were standing, but I remember feeling complete joy. I remember thinking to myself, "I can't stop smiling so big. I can't actually see. Is it the water in my eyes or is my smile so big that my eyes are pushed closed and I look more Asian than ever." The latter is probably the reason my eyes are closed in most of these pictures...haha.

sharing testimonies

 waiting excitedly in line!

To thank our friends and family for coming to celebrate with us, Traci and I decided to bake mini loaves of banana bread since, 1) we've been dying to use our cute mini loaf pans and 2) everyone likes banana bread!

3 sizes of mini loaf pans

We wait in hope for the Lord;

    he is our help and our shield.

In him our hearts rejoice,

    for we trust in his holy name.

May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,

    even as we put our hope in you.

say twinsies! (twinsies!)

xoxo, allison

SOML | BAPTISM!

Yesterday, Allison and I got baptized at South Bay Community Church and what an amazing day it was!!! God has been really working in our lives and it was such an amazing feeling to take that next step and get baptized. We felt so blessed and loved to celebrate and proclaim our love for God in front of our family and friends. Even some people from the Cornerstone fam (the church we grew up in) came! My camera ran out of batteries (I have a bad habit of never charging my stuff), but Matt was able to capture these on his phone. I'm hopeful that Allison got some good pictures on her camera.

Pure joy! Praise God! What a special day we had :)

xoxo, traci